Eat the Cookie...Buy the Shoes: Giving Yourself Permission to Lighten Up Read online

  When God shows us a fault He does not expect us to fix it. He only wants us to acknowledge it, to agree with Him, to be sorry for it, and to be willing to turn away from it. He knows—and we need to know—that we cannot change ourselves, but He will change us if we study His word and cooperate with His Holy Spirit.

  Change of all types is worth celebrating because it is required for progress. The process may not bring joy, but later on it will produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness that God desires and that we can enjoy (see Heb. 12:11). Give yourself permission to lighten up and don’t be so intense about your own perfection. Do your best and let God do the rest. As long as you are making progress God is pleased.

  CHAPTER 6

  Celebrate through Giving

  Throughout the Bible we see people celebrating progress and victory in a variety of ways. One of those ways was to specifically take the time to give an offering to God and to thank Him.

  Noah had been in the ark one year and ten days when God told him it was time to go forth and begin a new life. I cannot even imagine how happy he and his family (and the animals) were to see dry ground and have their feet on solid soil. The first thing that Noah did was to build an altar to the Lord and sacrifice various animals to Him. In Noah’s day this was the acceptable method of giving to God and showing appreciation for what He had done. God was pleased when He smelled the pleasant odor and He pronounced a blessing on Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen. 9:1).

  We would quickly add a lot of celebration time to our lives if we would take the time to give thanks and perhaps some other type of offering when God does amazing things for us. An attitude of gratitude shows a lot about the character of a person. We should never have an attitude of entitlement, but we should have one that says, “I know I don’t deserve God’s goodness, but I am sure grateful for it.”

  An attitude of gratitude shows a lot about the character of a person.

  Abram (later renamed Abraham) regularly built altars to God and sacrificed, giving praise and thanks to God for his progress as he journeyed through the land. God had asked Abram to leave everything he was familiar with, including home and family, and go to a place that would be shown to him as he went. I cannot even imagine the difficulty of obeying such a request. Leave everything! Go where? What for? Abram found the courage to go and throughout his journey he took time to celebrate the progress he had made so far (see Gen. 12:7–8, 13:4). God was leading him, taking care of him and keeping him safe. Surely at the end of each day we should take time to celebrate in our hearts that God has kept us safe and enabled us to do whatever needed to be done. The evening meal could be used as a point of contact for this type of celebration. The feasts of Israel usually included food, so why not turn an ordinary dinner into a celebration? It won’t take any special preparation; all you will need is a heart full of thanksgiving and a willingness to take a few moments and express it to God.

  It is easy for us to get caught up in looking at how far we have to go in reaching our goals instead of celebrating how far we have come. Think about it. How far have you come since you became a Christian? How much have you changed? How much happier are you? Are you more peaceful than you were before? Do you have hope? There is always plenty to celebrate if we look for it.

  It is easy for us to get caught up in looking at how far we have to go in reaching our goals instead of celebrating how far we have come.

  A thorough study of the Bible shows us that the men and women who God used in mighty ways always had the attitude of celebrating what God had done. They did not take His goodness for granted, but they openly showed appreciation for little things as well as big ones.

  God Parted the Red Sea

  Have you ever had a time when you felt that your back was against the wall? You had a big problem and no solution, and then suddenly God did something amazing and enabled you to escape safely from your problem. Most of us can think of a time like that. When the Israelites were led out of Egypt by God working through Moses, they eventually found themselves in a very distressing situation. The Red Sea was in front of them and the Egyptian army was behind them. They had no place to go; they were trapped! God had promised their deliverance, and what He did was amazing indeed. He actually parted the Red Sea and the Israelites walked across on dry ground, but as the Egyptian army followed, the sea closed up over them and they drowned.

  When the Israelites reached the other side, the first thing they did was start to celebrate. They sang a song that came straight from their hearts, recorded in nineteen verses in the Bible (see Exod. 15:1–19). After the song, two of the women took out a type of tambourine, and all the women followed them with their tambourines and they danced and sang some more. The entire song talked of what God had done, how great He was, how He had redeemed them and dealt with their enemies. We would probably experience more victory in life if we would take time to celebrate the ones we have already had. Once again, it is operating on the principle of being grateful for what we have instead of taking an inventory of what we do not have yet.

  God Rebuilds the Broken-down

  Many of us are in a broken-down condition when we finally humble ourselves and ask God to do His work in us. God is a builder and a restorer of what was once lost and destroyed. I had lost my innocence through abuse, I had no confidence, was filled with shame, guilt, bitterness, and many other painful emotions. But, God! I love that phrase which is found in God’s word. But, God—worked in my life and has rebuilt and restored what was once broken down and useless. History is filled with records of people who can tell a similar story.

  Nehemiah and his kinsmen (the Jews) who had escaped exile lived in pitiful conditions. The wall of their city was broken down, and for any town in those times that was a dangerous thing. Their wall was their protection from the surrounding enemies who seemed to be everywhere.

  Nehemiah was told of the terrible condition his kinsmen lived in and, after weeping, fasting, and praying for days, he went to the king and asked for permission and timber to rebuild the temple gate, the city wall, and a house for himself to live in. Nehemiah was a man of action. When he saw a need or an injustice he wanted to do something about it, and we should be the same way. I think it is interesting that he asked to help the people and he was willing to work hard, but he also asked for a house for himself. Perhaps he realized that by the time he got the project finished he would need a nice place in which to live and relax.

  The project was a huge one, and it took a long time and a lot of determination. During the rebuilding Nehemiah and the other workers experienced constant opposition from their enemies who tried to prevent them from building by distracting them. However, persistence paid off and eventually the project was completed. One of the first things they did after they reached their goal was to celebrate! Ezra the priest told the people, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold” (Neh. 8:10).

  Notice that the priest told them to rejoice. It was the right thing to do spiritually. The party was sanctioned by God or, even better, it was commanded by God. Just imagine God told them to eat fat and sugar! Sounds like a cookie day to me! They needed to celebrate a good job well done. Celebration is part of our recovery. It revives us for the next project or job we have to do. Do you take time to celebrate when you finish a project, or do you merely begin the next one? If you don’t reward yourself in some way for your hard work you are missing out on part of God’s plan. Remember, He rewards those who are diligent (see Heb. 11:6).

  God not only told them to enjoy themselves, but He told them to send portions to those who were in need. I have learned over the past few years through studying God’s love that giving to others is one of the ways we can and should celebrate our own victories. It is a way of saying, “I sure am happy about what God has don
e for me, and I want to reach out and make someone else happy.”

  Esther was used by God to bring deliverance to the Jews. A wicked man named Haman had a plot to destroy them—but, God! God had his own plan and it was a plan for deliverance. He used Esther and her uncle Mordecai to bring this wicked plan to the attention of the king and through them God achieved deliverance for the Jews. When the victory had been won the Jews gathered together to celebrate. They needed it and God wanted them to have it. Mordecai recorded the things that had taken place because it was part of the Jewish history that needed to be passed on to their descendants. He also commanded that the Jews keep the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month of Adar, the days of their victory, yearly as a time of celebration and remembering what God had done. They were instructed to remember that their sorrow had been turned into gladness and “from mourning into a holiday—that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days of sending choice portions to one another and gifts to the poor” (Esther 9:22).

  Giving is a central part of the Christian lifestyle and we should do it aggressively and with joy. God has given us His Son Jesus as the best gift He could give and in Jesus we have all other things. In Him we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm (see Eph. 1:3).

  It is the will of God that we give thanks at all times and in everything (see 1 Thess. 5:18). Thanksgiving must have an expression in order to be complete. We can say that we are thankful, but do we show it? Are we expressing it? We say “thank you,” but there are other ways of showing appreciation and one of them is giving to people who have less than we do. Giving to the poor is commanded by God. It is one of the ways we can keep a continual cycle of blessing operating in our lives. God gives to us and we show appreciation by giving to someone else, and then He blesses us some more so we can do it all over again.

  The Bible puts it plainly. When God blesses you as He promised, find a poor man and give to him. Do not harden your heart, but open your hands wide to your brethren. If you give to him freely without begrudging it then the Lord will bless you in all your work and all that you undertake (see Deut. 15:6–8, 15:10). What we give to others as a result of obedience to God is never lost. It leaves our hand temporarily, but it never leaves our life. We give it, God uses it to bless someone else, and then He returns it to us multiplied. I like the way God does things, don’t you?

  What we give to others as a result of obedience to God is never lost. It leaves our hand temporarily, but it never leaves our life.

  Altars and Memorials

  Under the Old Covenant, men and women of God regularly built altars and sacrificed animals or grain on them as an outward sign of their inward gratitude. As we have seen, they frequently established yearly holidays that were to commemorate and bring to remembrance something wonderful God had done for them. The Bible has 396 references to altars. We find them mentioned from Genesis to Revelation. They have historically always been a part of worship, praise, and thanksgiving, and they will even be in Heaven, according to what the Apostle John saw and recorded in the book of Revelation.

  We also find several references to memorials. These were altars or buildings or permanent objects that served as reminders. They could also be a day or days set aside yearly for the purpose of remembering. Altars and memorials are solid objects that give substance to our show of thankfulness. People often build some type of memorial as an object that will stand as a reminder of their lost loved ones. We put tombstones on graves as memorials. We give awards, plaques, and trophies, which are objects that help us remember our victories. We are spiritual beings, but we also have souls and bodies and we need to have tangible objects as references to remind us of things.

  Another thing the Israelites did was to write things down as a memorial to what God had done. I have kept a journal of the challenges in my life and the victories for thirty-three years. The Bible that we love and base our life on is a memorial to what God has done for us. When we see our Bible it immediately says all kinds of things to us. We may not take the time to think through all of them, but oddly enough the presence of a Bible can give comfort even to people who don’t know one word that is in it. The Bible reminds us that God exists and has something to say to us. Have you ever made a notation in your Bible next to a verse that spoke to you during a particular time of challenge or joy? As I leaf through my Bible, I see notes in the margins, sometimes accompanied by the date, and I remember exactly what I was going through when that verse spoke to me. As I reread it, I’m visiting the memorial of a moment in time when God moved me in a special way.

  I firmly believe that saying “thank you” is good, but doing something tangible, at least part of the time, is even better.

  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!

  Psalm 100:4

  Please notice that the Psalmist suggested we come with thanksgiving (words) and a thank offering (something tangible). When we come together in church to worship, giving is part of our worship. It is a tangible way of saying, “God, I really appreciate all that you have done for me.” Giving is a way to celebrate the goodness of God. Why not make a decision to be more generous than you have ever been in your life? You cannot outgive God because He will take your gift, bless someone with it, and bring it back to you multiplied. What you give may be gone temporarily, but it never leaves your life. Giving brings joy to us and blessing to others.

  CHAPTER 7

  A Time to Remember

  I have often said that I think we forget what we should remember and remember what we should forget. Jesus chastised the disciples on one of their journeys because they had forgotten about a miracle He had done. They had started out on a trip and suddenly remembered that they had forgotten to bring enough bread. They only had one loaf and that would not be nearly enough. In a short while Jesus began to teach the disciples to beware of, and on their guard concerning, the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. Jesus of course was talking about being on their guard against deception, but the disciples reasoned among themselves that He was talking about the fact that they had forgotten to bring bread, as if that would have concerned Jesus at all. He then began to chastise them, asking if they had forgotten when He fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread. Had they forgotten another amazing miracle when He fed four thousand with seven loaves? Had they remembered, they would not be worried about going hungry because of not having brought enough bread with them.

  If we would remember the miracles God has done in our past we would not so easily fall into worry and fear when we have new challenges to face. When David was facing Goliath and nobody was encouraging him, he remembered the lion and the bear that he had already slain with God’s help. Because of remembering the past, he had no fear of the current situation.

  If we would remember the miracles God has done in our past we would not so easily fall into worry and fear when we have new challenges to face.

  Are you facing something right now that looms before you like a giant in your life? Is it illness or financial lack? Is it relationship problems? Is it something you have never done before and you don’t know where to begin? The truth is that it doesn’t matter what it is because nothing is impossible for God. Take some time right now and recall some of the things He has helped you with and brought you through in the past. Think about and talk about those things and you will find courage filling your heart.

  Are you facing something right now that looms before you like a giant in your life?

  I was abused for approximately fifteen years; my first husband abandoned me when I was pregnant and he lived with another woman. I had breast cancer in 1989; I had to have a hysterectomy: I suffered with migraine headaches for ten years. I have been deserted by friends, lied to, stolen from, and talked about in false and ungodly ways, but God has been faithful and I am still here with a good report and I am using my experience to he
lp others. I know many of you have the same type of testimony. For our own preservation we absolutely must remember, recount, and recall the mighty things that God has done for us and others.

  A party often commemorates a special occasion or an important event like a birthday, an anniversary, a retirement, or a special achievement. Although these types of memorials are necessary and good, the best ones are when we remember God’s intervention in the past saving us from destruction. It fills us with fresh faith and hope, and it encourages us—another way of saying it is that it gives us courage. No wonder that God says He is to be remembered from generation to generation.

  God told the Israelites to remember that they were slaves in Egypt and to remember all the miracles He did there to convince Pharoah to let them go. He told them to not be afraid of their enemies but to remember what He did to Pharoah and to all of Egypt (see Deut. 7:18). He told them to remember all the ways He led them in the wilderness to humble and prove them, and to see if they would keep His commandments or not (see Deut. 8:2). They were to remember the difficulty along the way and the mighty acts of God in delivering them. When they were thirsty He brought water out of a rock, and when they were hungry He rained manna for food out of the sky each morning. Their shoes and clothing did not wear out for forty years. Talk about needing a new outfit—that must have been the ultimate!